Robert Rauschenberg

Featuring 42 of Robert Rauschenberg's pioneering Transfer Drawings of the 1960s, this book reproduces almost half of the works that were made in that tumultuous decade. The historical watershed of 1968 is especially well represented by 23 drawings, at least 15 of which were shown in the influential Ileana Sonnabend Gallery, Paris, in October of that year. They have never been seen before now in the U.S. The imagery in these drawings suggests a growing political consciousness, first engaging the civil rights movement, followed by the Vietnam War and other events of the stormy era. This small but exquisite volume is an absorbing sequel to the 2005-06 international touring exhibition of Rauschenberg's Combines, taking up where those multi-media constructions left off. Among the featured works are "Mainspring" (1965), the largest of the transfer drawings, and selections from the artist's own collection.